“My destiny is to lead God’s people to the wealth,” she said. Sitting at the beginner’s table, Hill took note. The retired bank worker and grandmother left with a plan to purchase bitcoin.
“I don’t want it to start climbing back up and I miss that climb,” she later told NBC News. For Hill, the possibility of crypto leading to wealth piqued her interest.
“I’m not going hungry, but there are more things I want to do,” she said. She mentioned traveling with her husband to Singapore and substitute-teaching to give back as some of the ways she wanted to spend her days.
She prayed and some time later a church member told her about Renee, she said.
“I’m just kind of being sensitive to the spirit,” Hill said. “I don’t think it was just me going out on my own. I have to trust God and pray about it.”
Months later, with bitcoin’s price below $70,000, she said she hadn’t yet made a purchase, having watched the market tumble and controversy swirl around the Trump family’s crypto projects. In the meantime, she’s kept learning and has set aside funds for when she’s ready to begin.
“I’m only going to invest what I can lose,” Hill said.
While American churches have been fast to adopt new technology, it’s still the case that most Americans don’t own any cryptocurrency. Dave Ramsey, one of the most prominent Christian financial experts in the country, remains skeptical.
Churchgoers in the 2000s may remember a time when small groups met up for Ramsey’s Financial Peace University in hopes of achieving a debt-free life. Some houses of worship helped congregants cover fees for the class.
In his radio show, Ramsey has equated buying crypto to investing in Beanie Babies.
When a caller struggling with debt said God was the reason she’d invested in crypto, Ramsey seemed in disbelief.
“It might have been a spirit, but it wasn’t the holy one,” Ramsey scolded.
For decades, Ramsey, who’s known for framing personal decisions as the root of most financial troubles, has promoted investments in mutual funds like 401(k)s, prioritizing building up an emergency fund and a strict debt pay off schedule.
Others have warned that cryptocurrency poses something spiritually worse than a financial risk. On TikTok and YouTube, videos are dedicated to the question of whether crypto could be a sign of the Anti-Christ.
Gatewood acknowledged that some Christians “are afraid of bitcoin. They think it’s the mark of the beast,” she said.
“That’s OK,” she said. “We were scared when we first heard about it. We thought it was a scam.”
Faith amid the dip
While some churchgoers puzzle over what to make of crypto, Renee has found that at least one pulpit is welcoming.
“I think I was attracted because of her faith,” Tappin said. “Because of my faith, I believe God has put me in this space with her. It’s up to me to put in the work.”
Tappin initially heard Renee speak at a conference in 2021. She started buying Ethereum, but said she lost hundreds after her digital wallet was hacked. Ready to give cryptocurrency another chance, she started attending Renee’s workshops again last year.
During one of the day’s breaks, Tappin won a gift bag, including a flat iron, after answering a question correctly. One attendee, who won a silver coin, remarked that she would have preferred the straightener.
In the months since, Tappin has been busy purchasing bitcoin during the dip, even as bitcoin’s price slid into the 60s.
For Tappin, who wonders what her crypto portfolio might have looked like if she hadn’t taken a break from investing, now’s not the time to pause. “Talk to me in 2028,” Tappin said. “I’ll let you know how it went.”
